Jan. 25, 2013

Written by

Dave Coulson

Fish explorer

Three-day weekends are wonderful. I only wish they occurred every week. Were that the case, Iíd probably be wishing for four-day weekends, or even better, six- or seven-day weekends. But that would be called retirement, wouldnít it?

Someday.

Saturday was spent visiting booths and fellow anglers at the International Sportsmenís Exposition in Denver. When I wasnít wandering around, I planted myself at the Fly Tying Theater, where I had the privilege of tying alongside some of Coloradoís best tiers. Iím not sure how I got invited, but Iím not complaining as I love showing others how to tie. My fellow tiers honored me by asking to trade flies. Thatís an offer I readily accepted and felt I came out ahead on the deal.

Speaking of fly tying, I also managed to pad my collection of materials with several new colors of fox tail ó some natural, some dyed ó several pieces of buffalo and a beautiful raccoon skin. Not sure I needed more tying materials, but anything fishing related is generally more about desire than need.

Sunday was spent fishing the northern waters of Douglas and Wellington No. 4 reservoirs. Douglas was an example of the crowd doesnít always know best. There were anglers everywhere. Most were located from the boat ramp north to the end of the riprap. There also was a smattering of folks around the entire reservoir. You would think with that many anglers, fishing would be phenomenal. Not so. I spoke with several before drilling a hole and what I discerned was someone else had caught something, somewhere on the lake, sometime in the last week or two.

Not deterred, we set up to the south of the boat ramp. After a couple of hours and numerous holes, we managed one trout. While the weather was nice and the exercise was good, we opted to move to Wellington No. 4 in search of better action.

Initially, there were few anglers at Wellington but as the day wore on many moved over from Douglas. As is our way, we set up away from the crowds and after a number of holes we located a transition zone. This is an area where the depth changed from shallow to deep fairly quickly then remained somewhat constant in depth for a distance.

(Page 2 of 2)

Schools of perch were following that transition zone and the action alternated from hot to cold and back as they swam through. It was one of those days when where you fished really mattered ó miss the mark by a few feet and nothing, hit it and you were rewarded with steady action.

We followed the advice I often give others: Fish away from the crowd because, if nothing else, youíll have less competition for the fish. Second, if youíre not catching, change what youíre doing; try different tactics and new locations.

Monday, my friend Bill Woodward and I headed south and fished the Arkansas River in Pueblo. While not a world-class tailwater fishery, thanks to numerous stream improvements coupled with stocking and special regulations on the lower sections, it has become a solid fishery, occasionally producing fish larger than 20 inches.

It wasnít the fishing that attracted me to the Arkansas. It was the opportunity to stream fish in the middle of January wearing flyweight waders, a light jacket, ball cap and no gloves ó and still be warm all day. Only the calendar reminded me it was still the middle of winter. And to top it off, we even managed a couple of fish.

Iím quite sure that Old Man Winter will throw some nasty weather our way. Until then, hereís to long weekends, fly tying and fly fishing on warm winter days.

Dave Coulson is an avid Fort Collins fly fisher. He is state field editor with www.Fish Explorer.com. Send email to dave@fishexplorer.com.

Fish Explorer

Dave Coulson is an avid Fort Collins fly fisher. He enjoys teaching others how to fish, commercially ties flies and guides, is active with several fishing clubs, and is a field editor with www.FishExplorer.com. His column runs occasional Sundays.

Most Popular

Most Commented

More Headlines

Most Viewed

Photo Galleries

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Fish explorer: The crowd doesn't always know best when ice fishing

Three-day weekends are wonderful. I only wish they occurred every week. Were that the case, I'd probably be wishing for four-day weekends, or even better, six- or seven-day weekends. But that would